Providing a new jet fuel source could be a new market for the peanut industry, one that is in the process of being evaluated by both USDA and the Navy. “I think we owe it to ourselves that any time we can get our product into a new market that we explore these options,” said Dr. Marshall Lamb with the …
Bioenergy Crop Modeling Predicts Soil Carbon Increases
Researchers with the U.S. Department of Energy’s (DOE’s) Argonne National Laboratory are using computational modeling to predict which counties in Illinois could see increases in soil organic carbon from crops such as switchgrass for biofuels. Increasing carbon stored in soil is one way to help mediate the amount of carbon dioxide released into the atmosphere. The Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS) …
The Ecology of a New Crop
Researchers at the UConn Plant Science Farm are studying the ecology of camelina as a high-tech crop. The research team is led by professor emerita Carol Auer and she and her team have been working with Camelina sativa, an oilseed crop that has never been grown commercially in the state. The feedstock has been subject to genetic modification for use …
Wild Sorghum Shows Potential as Biofuel Crop
A variety of wild sorghum that grows on the roadside in northern Australia is showing great potential as a biofuel crop. Researchers from the ARC Centre of Excellence in Plant Cell Walls at the University of Adelaide have discovered that the sorghum variety Arun has the potential to yield over 10,000 liters of bioethanol per hectare per year. Scientists looked …
Repreve Renewables Opens NC Processing Center
Repreve Renewables has opened a new processing center in Greensboro, North Carolina. The company’s primary crop is giant miscanthus, a drought tolerant perennial that needs low inputs yet provides high yields. Research has shown the crop also improves soil and water quality. Giant miscanthus can be used as a feedstock for a variety of products including bioenergy to poultry bedding. …
USDA Awards $8M for Advanced Biofuel Projects
The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has awarded $8.8 million in funding to boost advanced biofuel production and assist in sustaining jobs at renewable energy facilities in 39 states. The funds, provided through USDA’s Advanced Biofuel Payment Program, tie in to several USDA programs also aimed at increasing advanced biofuel production including the Farm Bill’s bio-refinery program, the Green Fleet …
U of Guelph Discovers Key to Increasing Biomass
University of Guelph researchers may have found the key to increasing food and fuel (#Biofuel) production. By modifying a plant’s genetic profile, researchers doubled the plant’s growth and increased seed production by more than 400 percent. The findings were published in the March 2016 issue of Plant Biotechnology Journal. Using Arabidopsis, a small flowering plant that has similar characteristics to …
Clariant’s Sugarcane Bagasse Can Achieve Price Parity
Clariant has completed testing on more than 40 containers of sugarcane bagasse asnd tops and leaves from Brazil at its pilot facility in Germany on the feedstock conversion to cellulosic ethanol. The tests using the company’s sunliquid technology proved the cost per liter when including feedstock, conversion and depreciation produce a price competitive biofuel. “The process integrated on-site enzyme production …
University of Illinois Identifies Ideal Bioenergy Crops
New research from the University of Illinois has identified what bioenergy crops are best for certain regions while minimizing effects on water quantity and quality. The study was based on replacing current vegetation with crops for ethanol production and looked at how each crop would impact water quantity and quality in soils. “We expect the outcome of this study to …
ICM Completes Cellulose Ethanol Performance Runs
ICM Inc. has successfully completed two 1,000-hour performance runs of its patent-pending Generation 2.0 Co-Located Cellulose Ethanol process at the company’s pilot plant in St. Joseph, Missouri. The runs were designed to prove performance of the co-located technology design for the conversion of cellulosic biomass feedstocks, including energy crops such as switchgrass and energy sorghum, agricultural crop residues, and forestry …